Innovation that drives customer value
At Wincanton it’s all about adding value. We are constantly striving to find new ways to drive efficiencies and reduce costs for our customers so it is important for us to be ever more innovative.
Driving change through the supply chain
Internally, we actively encourage ideas and input from across the business, recognising the latent potential of our 16,000 employees as potential innovators. And it’s not just our staff: Wincanton often works with suppliers to create innovative solutions that drive us towards the collaborative supply chain of the future. For example, significant progress has been made in developing intellectual property in our IT systems for warehouse management, e-fulfilment and home delivery. These market-leading solutions have been developed from our thorough understanding of supply chain challenges and enable us to provide customers with greater speed to market, cost-efficiency and visibility on integrated platforms.
Innovation through new ideas
These approaches have already enabled us to introduce some innovative ideas which deliver real benefit to our customers:
Tail-lift skeletal
We have designed and developed a tail-lift skeletal solution for our containers business. This will enable easy loading and unloading of containers at distribution centres without dock levellers. The solution also incorporates customised air bags, which secure the load while in the containers. This innovation will allow our container fleet to transport backloads from retail DCs to the originating distribution hubs and ports. The tail-lift skeletal system is currently being trialled by a major retailer, before being rolled out to customers across the UK.
Waste collection vehicles
We have introduced a revolutionary new delivery and waste collection vehicle to be used within our foodservice business. This vehicle will enable the pick up of waste materials during one delivery stop, saving our customers valuable time, space and money as they no longer have to pay a separate waste contractor, while also reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill. This innovation was shortlisted for the Supply Chain Excellence Awards 2010 for Innovation.
Longer trailers
We have designed and prototyped a new longer semi-trailer which provides an additional 2.05m in length, and will allow a further four pallets in capacity.
Petroleum fleet
Our new petroleum fleet uses an aerodynamic tanker trailer that will reduce CO2 emissions through improved fuel efficiency.
Driver training
Our driver-training programme focuses on driving techniques, trends and behaviours which help drivers to modify their driving style to increase fuel efficiency and deliver both cost and carbon savings.